Fort | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

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Notes / Commercial Description:
An ale brewed with a ridiculous amount of pureed raspberries (over a ton of 'em!). Fort has a Belgian-style base, then we follow a similar fermentation process to the one we use on our other super-high ABV beers, 120 Minute IPA and World Wide Stout.

My hat goes off to the (2) folks who have actually purchased growlers of this stuff. Whoo!

A: This beer wins with is it's appearance. A very inviting reddish hue, it pours and settles to leave the drinker with absolutely no lace. Looks more like a carbonated wine than a beer in my pint glass.

S: The phenols are certainly present, as they should be with any 18%. I pick up: cranberries, cherries, and subtle wet hops. This one actually reminded me a lot of Burton Baton--they both give off an unmasked alcohol aroma.

T: The taste on this beer was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. Cranberries are present initially, followed by a warming alcohol/wine, contrasted by a nice balance of hops/malt. This beer was not just insipidly sweet; this beer had a very well rounded complexity that really developed as I sipped.

MF/D: Fort is, for an 18%, pretty damn drinkable. I was expecting a very sweet, almost syrupy quality to this beer, and was pleased to find a well balanced, high content, sharing-man's beer.

Cloudy,turbid pinkish brown with a nice collar of foam that leaves a little fine lacing. Smells like raspberries and kind of like fortified wine with mild toffee. Tastes of caramel and raspberries with a bit hit of warming alcohol. Lighter mouthfeel with a lively,champagne carbonation. A really BIG beer, share with a friend.

Taste: Much better than the taste. Super sweet, but that is expected. The age has really helped the alcohol fade. Natural raspberries with a hint of tartness at the beginning of each sip. The finish is quite sweet.

Mouthfeel: Thick body with tingly carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: I thought this aged fairly well. I don't know if the smell is better fresh, I guess I'll have to find out. Quite smooth.

An interesting beer for sure. Pours beautiful red with frothy head. Smells of strong raspberry and heavy booze, not much else going on in the aroma. Taste is a bit cloying and very hot, raspberries, liquid sugar, booze. Big heavy syrupy mouthfeel, light carbonation, whoah. This is solid for dessert but a bottle this size should be shared with at least 3 or 4 others. Especially given the alcohol level.

Bottle from the first batch of Fort brewed just before the Extreme Beer Fest in Jan 2005. Hand-bottled by the brewer, unlabeled and sealed with cap, red wax and string with a black wax tip. This one is back when the beer was "Forte" : French for "strong," and the World's Strongest Fruit Beer, brewed with Oregon and Delaware raspberries. 20% ABV

Aroma was a bit off-putting initially, but once warmed ... smells like fruity antacid or zinc lozenges. A bit musty. Deep raspberry cordial and solvent in the nose.

G'damn! This is one hot and fruity beer! The heat creates one harsh mouthfeel. Super solvent-like alcohol burn that taunts with heartburn, and seeps into the palate. Loads of alcohol spice. Peppery palate smack. Sticky cough-syrup and cheap schnapps cling and deliver the palate a major beat-down. Raspberry character is strong and distinct. Lime-like stab across the palate, just beneath the berries. Big fusel alcohol rips your esophagus to pieces. Surprisingly, the finish is pretty damn clean and bone dry.

It burns! It burns! We swear this is Devil's blood. The juice of Satan! But we can't stop drinking it! And each sip makes the pain more ... pleasant. All hail Fort!

Fort pours a reddish-peach color, capped by a thin white head and a wall of lace. Was totally surprised by the nail polish & alcohol aromas bursting from the glass, we were not expecting Fort to weigh in at 18% ABV, slight hints of raspberry linger in the nose. The first sip made arm hair stand on end, with a strong alcohol burn lingering in the finish, but with the next sip the sweet and tart raspberry flavors cut through the alcohol and make the brew much ore palatable and enjoyable. Medium bodied, Fort also features a moderate amount of carbonation. BIG and Bold, Fort was more then we expected, yet enjoyable all the same. Definitely an Off-Centered Ale for Off-Centered People!

T - The alcohol is very present then the spiced raspberries come through

M - This has a full body with lighter carbonation to it

D - The abv kills this beer it could be a lot more drinkable if the alcohol wasn't so present this is one of those beers that you drink just to say that you had it I won't be running to the store to buy more

Taste:
Lively carbonation is followed by an almost cloyingly sweet tsunami of intense raspberry-flavoured liquid. The sweet raspberries thankfully become a bit more tart as the sip wears on. Alcohol is prominent throughout -- making the brew hard to manage as the temperature rises.

Mouthfeel:
Great carbonation. Medium bodied. Major alc burn.

Harmony:
I actually think DFH should have lowered the ABV drastically on this one. The sweet/tart raspberry flavor is quite interesting by itself. The high alc, sort of intrudes on that experience -- forcing me to take sips when I would have preferred to experience more of the flavor. I probably won't get it again, though it was definitely worth sampling.

Pours a cloudy tangerine amber color with a full finger loose orange tinted head that fades fairly quickly. The smell is incredibly sweet and fruity; like a sangria. The mouth feel is lightly carbonated, thick and syrupy. The flavor is sweeter than it smells. A big berry fruit taste with a solid sweet wine alcohol character that's got a bright tartness without being sour. This one is a real sipper. Way too sweet and heavy for me. It's almost like a fruity barleywine, if you can imagine that.

T: Raspberry flavor is unreal, not all that natural tasting. The fruit is there with sugar, but not in the cloying sense. The booziness to it probably died down, but still fairly strong.

M: Medium body, for such a big beer. A touch syrupy at time, minimal alcohol burn, considering the ABV.

O/D: Certainly an interesting beer. It's a fruit beer, almost drinks like a cocktail. Not something I'd try again, but it was so unique, I'm glad I had it. Can't really recommend it, unless you want big time fruity sweetness.

If you like raspberry juice smacking you in the face and giving you Type 2 Diabetes...this is the beer for you. Not in the same sweetness league as Serendipity, but it has less depth, not terrible...not the best.

Pours a slightly hazed grapefruit red with a couple of fingers of beige foam. Heat settles to a fluffy ring. Some broad lacing.

Aroma is very much like raspberry soda. Bright berry fruit, floral garden notes. Some alcohol.

Initial flavor is intensely sweet, with a syrupy fruit quality. Things sour a little and tartness emerges in the middle, but sweetness sticks around too. Both flavors linger on in the aftertaste. A slight alcohol taste in the finish, but amazing how well buried it is. Overall I like the flavor but it does have some unpleasant cough syrup qualities.

Full bodied with medium-low carbonation. Drinks quite thick and syrupy.

I'm used to Belgian-style beers with fruit in them to be a lot lower in ABV and with much higher carbonation, so this one is pretty unique. You certainly don't need more than one glass in a sitting.

Poured to an oversized wine glass. 2011 vintage.
Pours on the redish side of orange, a vigorous pour pulled a one finger head that was gone in a hurry. Nice spotty lacing.
nose is big and boozy, I get burnt sugar raspberries and tropical fruit. Big alcohol burn dominates the nose.
The raspberries is up front in the taste but is still overshadowed by the high alcohol, aside from that I get burnt sugar and toffee reminiscent of a barleywine.
Mouthfeel is super sticky, big body, and medium-low carbonation.
This is my third time trying this beer. The first time was in my second month of craft beer and I thought it had gone bad and poured it down the drain, the second time it was four years old and fucking delicious, this time it was fresh and I have to say this is a beer that needs aging to meet its full potential. At 4 years I'd give it a 4.7.

Gorgeous, I can hardly wait to drink this beer it looks so good (I write that after having drank it). Beautiful light read with perfectly accompanied head. A bit of lacing but not much.
Smells of strong berried fruits. Not specifically raspberry, but berry scent.
Cherry NightQuil. Very strong alcohol. Strong bitterness at first out of the frige. Bitterness faded and sweetness came out as it warmed up.
Remarkably smooth and fizzy at the same time. Not bad mouth feel at all.
I had two 6-8 oz glasses. I did not want any more and I'm glad because I didn't realize how much alcohol was in it.

pours a deep copper with a reddish hues, very light lace for a head hat sustaind the duration of consumption.
the aroma is malty, hint of raspberry, and alcohol.
the flavor is malty, carmelized sugar, alcohol, spice, hint of raspberry.
the mouthfeel is pretty full, little slippery sweet, sticks to your mouth.
beer is very drinkable but best enjoyed on a cold night.